Who we are

ISKO SG is a regional chapter of ISKO, the International Society for Knowledge Organization. We are a not-for-profit scientific/professional association dedicated to promoting the theory and practice of Knowledge Organization through the pursuit of four key objectives:

to establish an active membership of people with an interest in Knowledge Organization (KO), whatever their background or qualifications

to explore the scope and role of KO and its value to society, to publicize the results and to spread the understanding that emerges

to enable members to develop a community of interest and to build bridges between those working in different sectors, particularly between researchers and practitioners

to encourage and support the next generation of KO researchers and practitioners

our mission

Our mission is to promote the theory and practice of organizing knowledge and information to support organisational effectiveness, community benefits and social progress. We do this through fostering awareness, sharing, learning, dialogue and networking among practitioners and researchers in the field both locally and internationally.

History

The International Society for Knowledge Organization (ISKO) was founded in Europe in 1989. Currently it has more than 500 individual and corporate members and a worldwide reach, with 13 regional chapters, of which Singapore is the most recent. Every two years members come together in an international conference which is hosted by a regional chapter - the next international conference will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2016). Regional chapters often hold their own biennial conferences in alternate years from the international conference.

ISKO publishes the bi-monthly journal Knowledge Organization which was founded in 1973, and was taken over by ISKO upon its foundation in 1989. ISKO members have access to the current issues and digital archive of Knowledge Organization.

The ISKO SG chapter was established in September 2015. Our emphasis is to build awareness of research and practice in the field of knowledge organisation within the Southeast Asian region and to build bridges between the research and practitioner communities. We do this through:

providing news about international developments in knowledge organisation

fostering networks and relationships between practitioners, researchers and technology providers in the field of knowledge organisation

activities

We hold regular awareness, sharing and training events on topics of interest to our members. Upcoming events are shown on our Events page, and for past events you will find links to materials and supporting resources.

As well as organising our own events, the ISKO SG chapter supports the annual Innovations in Knowledge Organisation conference, and other ISKO regional, national and international conferences. You will find notices about these events and resources from many of them at the global ISKO website.Let us know if there are other events related to knowledge organisation that our members should know about.

The Executive Committee is elected for a two-year term at alternate Annual General Meetings. Annual General Meetings are held in August or September each year.

membership

When you join ISKO you are joining a global community. The ISKO membership illustrates the breadth and variety of professions and roles where knowledge organisation is a key element. It includes:

knowledge and information managers

information scientists

digital asset managers

librarians

records managers

information architects

semantic web developers

taxonomists

media workflow managers

IT specialists

researchers and teachers in knowledge organisation

As a member you will enjoy the benefits of free and subsidised sharing and learning events, in Singapore, in the region, and internationally. Many of our meetings are free to members. You will also have full access to the current and past issues of Knowledge Organization and access to other ISKO resources from around the world. Non-members are also welcome to attend our events, but will not have full access to the privileges and discounts of ISKO members, or the access to the Knowledge Organization journal. Do consider joining today!